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Revenue minister threatened me, says Congress MLA

A newly-elected Congress member in the Maharashtra legislature council on Tuesday alleged that he was threatened by a Shiv Sena minister over a plot transaction deal in Versova, Andheri, in the north-western suburbs of Bombay.

The Congress member, Chandrakant Raghuvanshi, said Revenue Minister Narayan Rane had conveyed the threat through a Sena leader, after Raghuvanshi had written a letter to the chief minister, informing him of illegal transactions in the plot deal.

However, Rane refuted the allegation in the evening, saying the member was blackmailing the government. The plot of land was sanctioned by the cabinet in 1997, he added.

Earlier, participating in a discussion on the state budget, Raghuvanshi said he had mentioned in the letter to the chief minister that a plot in Versova area was being illegally handed over to some developers. He said he received the threat after he wrote the letter to Joshi, and demanded protection from the state government.

At this point, Deputy Chairman N S Pharande directed the state government to provide Raghuvanshi with due protection.

UNI

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